What we do in the beginning

[katananokokoro]

Date: February 7th, 2060
Time: Early morning-mid afternoon
Place: Kenshin's safehouse, New Meiji Lower Districts
Characters: Kenshin, Megumi, Saitoh



The road went on. Snow crunched under his feet, chilling them. Icy fingers slid along his arms, trickled down the back of his neck. He couldn't stop walking. Weary. Bent. His sword leaving red trails on the snow, red petals in the air.

You did this

Aa

He tripped and nearly fell. The snow jabbed at his hand like needles. A mouthful clutched in his palm, pressed in his mouth to hide his breath, but it was hot. It was all hot and cold at the same time and he was looking...Searching... No... Following. Just ahead. There she was. The woman with the long black hair. He wanted to reach for her. Wanted to step away. His hands... they weren't meant to touch. They were only meant to kill. She turned slightly as if she had heard his step, paused and he could see a cell phone pressed to her ear.

"You can't stay out here," he told her. "It's dangerous."

"I have to. Hello? Hello?!" Her voice rose in desperation. "Is he hurt?" And then she pinned him with wide dark eyes. "I'm looking for Sa-chan."

No. No! The darkness snapped around them. Just the two of them. The snow.

"Sa-chan. I'm looking for Sa-chan!"

"No, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Sa-chan!"

Comments

[takanimegumi]

Megumi opened her mouth, trying to speak, but no sound other than a wet, agonized croak came from her bloodstained lips. She shuddered, eyes widening as she felt her throat catch on fire and turned away at the last second as another round of coughing overtook her and with a groan, the blood in her lungs was expelled violently.

On her side, with her face pressing against the cold black metal of the fire escape, she coughed and coughed, watching as thick ropes of phlegm and blood hit metal, slid down and fell down…down…dissipating slightly before hitting the street far below.

She watched the blood, her blood falling, and was irrationally envious, wanting nothing more than to throw herself off the stairs and experience a similar rapid descent. There would be a second of fear, an instant of pain as her body collided with asphalt and concrete and then….peace.

Another round of coughing finally cleared her throat. She gasped as cold morning air filled lungs that were still healing, moved over nerves that were raw and exposed. She screamed raggedly, and tried to curl up into a ball on the steps as her body mindlessly tried to rebuilt itself. Chest heaving, she screamed again as she felt broken ribs reform and milky cartilage binding bone and muscle together.

“Not again,” she sobbed, rolling to her stomach as her damaged spine began to re-fuse, causing her legs to twitch and jerk like a poorly used marionette, “Not again!”

She could feel air on her partially exposed back, the blood soaked t-shirt sporting an exit would that was six inches in circumference. A wave of regeneration hit, as damaged internal systems became whole and hale.

She convulsed, and rather than shaming herself more than she already had, she gripped the stair well, her bloody fingers sinking into the black mesh pattern on the landing as if it was made of silk rather than oxidized steel.
She was on fire. What few fat reserves she still carried within her were gone, already used by her body for fuel. Voraciously hungry, her body began to consume muscle groups next. Cramping horribly, she clawed at the stairs as her thighs, calves, buttocks and back muscles writhed beneath freshly formed skin, the potential energy in the iron rich muscles turning into kinetic fuel.

Slender hands became claw-like, skin became sallow, then nearly became translucent in places as one system was cannibalized by another, thereby triggering another vicious cycle of regeneration. Megumi lost track of time, as her body, already thin and weak after nearly a week without a full meal, became emaciated, her features wraithlike rather than womanly as the process peaked, then slowly began to slow down.

Sharp, agonized shrieks turned into sobs…and then became whimpers as the pain became more bearable, while the knowledge that she’d come back again against her will, and that someone had been present to see such a horrible spectacle increased.

And then it was done.

She shuddered once, twice and then was still, save for the shaking of her shoulders as she covered her face with her bloody hands and cried.